He smiled, revealing teeth that crossed at the front just slightly and elongated canines that were twice as thick as a vamp’s. “I feel better,” he said, brushing his hair out of his eyes so I could see them sparkle. “It was worth almost dying to share blood with an Eldhayr.”
I looked at him blankly, stunned that he even knew the word my Spirit Guide had used to describe himself once during a rare moment of revelation. Raoul had been an earthly soldier who’d continued his fight after death against even stouter foes than those he’d faced in life. I’d never given much thought to what I’d become after he’d brought me back. For sanity’s sake, I figured it was better not to go there. Better, in fact, to just continue as Jaz. Even with my Sensitivity blooming like spring roses and my Spirit Eye making me wish for shades, it was easier to think of them more as extra abilities than of myself as someone different. Something no longer human.
No, look, you’re still mostly human, I assured myself. If you weren’t, well, surely you wouldn’t be so pissed off at Dave or so confused about Vayl right now, huh? And you definitely wouldn’t want to pinch Disa’s head in a vise and then attach her body to a tire rotator.
That’s how you judge? asked Granny May. She’d moved to a new spot in my mind, one where I’d spent lots of time waiting for her in life. The beauty shop was old-school, with massive hair dryers that came down over your head like astronaut helmets and hair spray so thick in the air your eyelashes would stick together just walking to the waiting area. She flipped to a new page of her Better Homes and Gardens and gave me a sniff. You’re human because of all your negative emotions? Give me a break. Even demons feel rage.
How would you know? I demanded.
Don’t try to change the subject.
Fine, then. I . . . I’m human because . . . I floundered around, getting a little more panicked with each passing second. Then I knew. Because I choose to be, dammit!
Bingo! shouted my granny as the Were spoke up.
“Lucille.” His smirk told me he’d call me that if I wanted, but we both knew I was full of crap. “You smell of ferocity and distress. Are you all right?”
“That’s my perfume,” I said caustically. “Eau de oxymoron. By the way, this is my boss, Vayl.”
Vayl waved from where he stood with Niall by a second locked door, which exactly resembled the one we’d seen in Admes’s room. He seemed intent on getting the real story of Blas and Disa from his former ally, so I let him continue with his conversation while I took care of my new pal.
I asked, “Can I get you anything? Are you bored? Maybe I can find you some magazines or books or something.”
“I’m good,” he said. He nodded to a TV sitting across from the bed on a small entertainment center. “Niall is an Xbox 360 fanatic. So I’m set for as long as I have to stay.” Any other guy his age would’ve been content with the forced rest as long as he could play all day. But I could tell something was digging at him. He held the sheets wadded in his fists like only they could keep his hands from the items his longing eyes kept resting on: the spare clothes folded in Niall’s massive dresser, the door standing unlocked at my back. Freedom.
I put my hand over his knuckles and he grabbed on to me like I meant to pull him back from the edge of a precipice. I said, “We should get you out of here as soon as possible. I’m planning on going into town in the morning. Do you think you’ll be up to leaving by then?”
“I’ll manage,” he said. Though his voice was low, almost sarcastic, his longing for the outdoors pierced so deeply I nearly staggered.
No windows in this room, his suffering stare told me.
The ones in mine are all covered, I silently replied.
“What are you two communing about?” Vayl asked sharply.
When I turned my head to look at him I felt like I was moving in slow motion. Trayton’s pain overwhelmed me, making it hard to breathe. It wasn’t just that, of course. It never is. Everything builds on the blocks that are already in place until they all threaten to tumble down around you. Like this monstrous villa, my issues couldn’t be contained in any sensible sort of structure anymore. Which meant I didn’t even know how to tackle them. I gazed at Vayl. I don’t think I spoke out loud. Being his avhar, I didn’t have to.
He strode to me, reached up as if to take me by the arms. “I am getting you out of here.”
I stepped back. If he touched me I’d lose it completely. Holding up my hands, I said, “I’ll be okay. It’s just . . . been a long day.” My eyes went to my empty ring finger. I clenched my hands into fists and hid them behind me. Vayl, his eyes suddenly lighting to amber, stepped even closer.
“Jasmine—”
Both Trayton and I suddenly looked at the hall door at the same time and breathed, “Vampire.”
Niall hesitated. “No time to access the secret exit,” he whispered. “Here.”
He produced a set of keys from his front pocket and unlocked the door to the adjoining room. Vayl picked Trayton up off the bed, covers and all, and the three of us rushed out of the bedroom. As soon as we were clear, Niall shoved the door closed and called out, “Come in!”
I recognized Rastus speaking, his tone ragged, frustrated. But I couldn’t make out the words. Then my focus turned to the woman who sat in the center of the room we’d entered, playing softly at the shining black grand piano. It matched her hair, which swung forward to hide her face as she rocked into the keys, as if she could somehow dive into the song.
Did she play any of the other instruments that surrounded her? One corner held a harp. It made such a bold statement with its elegant shape and fine, golden frame that it worked simply as sculpture. A couple of violins, a viola, and a cello stood on stands against one darkly paneled wall, as if any minute now a string quartet planned to swing by and start practicing.
More modern instruments had been added to the mix as well. A drum set. A Clavinova digital piano. Enough brass to satisfy a blues band. All of it lovingly preserved.
Without looking up, even as she continued playing, the woman whispered, “Why are you here?”
Vayl froze, holding Trayton against him like a sick child. I stepped forward, but stopped when she held up a long-nailed hand that commanded me to. In the lowest voice I could manage I said, “Niall didn’t want his visitors to know he was harboring a healing werewolf and a couple of unwanted guests.”
“Which are you?” she asked.
“My name’s Lucille. The werewolf, Trayton, is by the door, being held by Vayl. If you’ve been here any length of time you probably—”
“Yes, I remember my old friend,” she said, finally looking up from the keyboard.
“Holy shit!” I breathed, desperate not to be heard by the vampires on the other side of the door, in dire need of a scream.
It had hit me again. Like in the closet, only worse this time. Because the woman had no face. None at all. It’s Aine, said the prim little librarian in my head, who seemed to be shocked by nothing because she felt sure it could all be cataloged. Remember Blas describing the fight—
Of course I do! I was there, wasn’t I? Shut the hell up!
Vayl staggered forward, ramming against me, knocking us both off balance so that we did a little whoops-are-we-gonna-fall dance before regaining our centers. I heard Trayton whimper softly as he beheld the empty cavity that should’ve held eyes, nose, and mouth.
I think I’m going to be sick, and that’s so impolite. It’s not her fault, I thought as I backed up. I didn’t stop until my shoulders brushed the door. Since I’d wrapped both hands around Vayl’s right arm, I pulled him and Trayton with me. Vayl dropped the Were to his feet between us, and we stood there for a second like a group of coeds about to be shredded by a serial killer.